The Spurs were really sluggish to start the game tonight in Sacramento, but they took over late and withstood a clutch run from Demar DeRozan and De’Aaron Fox to win a physically demanding contest on the road. Victor Wembanyama was the star, but his supporting cast played well enough to propel the Silver and Black to a second half surge and a gutty win.
Victor had another triple double, and Devin Vassell had his best game after returning from injury, scoring 21 and hitting some clutch shots in the fourth quarter. Chris Paul also made plays in the final minutes as the Spurs had to overcome a fourth quarter mid-range clutch exhibition from Demar DeRozan who kept the Kings in the contest despite the Spurs’ late surge. It was the kind of close, hard fought game that helps build team cohesion, and it can only be a good sign as the Spurs head to Phoenix on Tuesday to try to secure a spot in the NBA Cup knockout rounds by defeating the Suns.
Observations
- Jacob Tobey seemed pretty awkward in the broadcast booth at the beginning of the season, but less than 1/4th into his first year, he seems to be settling in, and his relationship with Sean and the rest of the crew seems comfortable. He’s going to be fine.
- Malik Monk was in the starting lineup for the Kings and made an instant impact.
- When Victor took a break in the first quarter, he was replaced with Charles Bassey, instead of Zach Collins, who is his usual replacement. Bassey got into foul trouble and didn’t look good on offense, so maybe he’s not the answer. Zach finally entered the game in the third quarter and was fine.
- DeRozan is the master of drawing fouls from players who ought to know better. It’s really amazing how he can be locked up inside a box and still draw a foul. It’s magical.
- The Spurs defense didn’t show up in the first quarter as the Kings led 42-28 after 12 minutes.
- Tre Jones is finally getting a little bit of rhythm after missing time to injury and looking a little lethargic since he’s been back. Unfortunately, he had to leave the game after a hard illegal screen from Sabonis.
- Julian Champagnie on a $3 million contract has got to be one of the biggest bargains in the league.
- The Spurs missed so many bunnies that it was starting to feel like Easter. Or something. They looked like they might catch up in the second quarter as they cranked up the defense knob, and trailed 58-65 at the half as they failed to take full advantage of the opportunities created by the defense.
- The Spurs looked dead coming out of the locker room, triggering a quick timeout from Coach Johnson to keep the score from getting out of hand. The Spurs responded and came back to take their first lead of the game at 79-77 halfway through the third.
- Isaac Jones provided a huge lift for the Kings as they finished the third quarter strong and led 97-92 after three.
- The Kings went foul crazy in the fourth, putting the Spurs into the bonus 3 minutes into the quarter. Sabonis almost picked up his sixth by pushing Wemby into Fox with 5 minutes left, but somehow the call was reversed on a challenge.
- Demar DeRozan took over the game late for the Kings and kept the Spurs from running away as it was close to the final seconds. A clutch triple from Chris Paul with 20 seconds left seemed to ice the game, but the Kings kept coming back, as Monk’s triple brought them within two with 11 seconds remaining.
- A missed free throw by Keldon Johnson added to the drama, but he somehow rebounded his own miss, which ended the drama as Chris Paul hit two free throws and the Spurs won 127-125 after Fox’s meaningless buzzer beating three.
The Spurs are just hanging around near the play-in range, but on Tuesday night, they will face the Suns for what could be the biggest game in several seasons for the Spurs. San Antonio hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2018-2019 season and they played in the play-in tournament in 2022. If the Spurs can advance to the NBA Cup knockout stage, it could be a valuable experience for the young guys to learn about playing under pressure. So Tuesday’s game is definitely a must-watch for Spurs fans.
